The No. 7 ranked CCRI men’s basketball team hosted the Avengers of ASA College form Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday afternoon for their final regular season game and defeated the Avengers 71-60. With the victory the Knights improved to 26-4, which is tied with the 1977 and 1990 teams for the program’s best-ever record. In addition, it was the 900th victory in the history of CCRI men’s basketball.

The Knights established the tempo early, playing an aggressive 2-3 zone defense to take a 19-6 lead with 9:15 left in the first half. ASA rallied a bit but CCRI still went into the break with a comfortable 30-23 lead.

In the second half the Knights came out in their vaunted 1-3-1 zone, which took the Avengers out of their game plan and allowed the Knights to take a commanding 48-33 lead with 11:20 left in the game. From there the Knights utilized good offensive patience and a good transition game to seal the win.

Leading the way offensively for the Knights was Desmond Williams (Torrington, Conn.), who scored 20 points with six steals, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot. Mabry added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Schmeltz had three points to go with nine rebounds, and Canino pulled down 10 rebounds to go with four points.

Lackerson added eight points, including a thunderous fast-break dunk and Livramento returned from injury to add six points and five rebounds in limited minutes. Bryan Yarce (Cranston) added five points, nine assists and six steals while Isaac Medeiros (Johnston) got the start and chipped in 11 points.

“What a great way to end the regular season,” said head coach Rick Harris. “Our sophomores all played well and earned their own place in CCRI basketball history.”

Lady Knights fall to ASA, bounce back against UCAP

The CCRI women’s basketball team lost a 57-46 game to highly-touted ASA College but came back strong to beat UConn-Avery Point 70-54. The Lady Knights are now 16-11 on the season.

Against ASA, CCRI delivered a strong first half, tying the game at 25-25 on a late three by Jahira Smith (Norwich, Conn.). But with two key players in foul trouble, the Lady Knights couldn’t keep ASA from pulling away in the second half.

“We never seemed to gain any momentum after that,” Lynch said. W”e traded baskets with them and you can’t do that against a team like that. When you get up on a Division I team, you have to put them away and we didn’t do that today.”

Smith led all scorers with 19 points and also had nine rebounds. Jess Randall (Warwick) had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Nyjah Porcher (New Britain, Conn.) added eight points and 12 rebounds.

On Tuesday, CCRI rebounded with a 70-54 home victory over UConn-Avery Point. The Lady Knights controlled the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer, quickly jumping out to a 10-point lead and extending it to 22 by halftime. The Pointers got as close as 13, but CCRI held on for the victory.

Smith had a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists, while Randall had 15 points, five rebounds and five steals. Lauren Masse (Woonsocket) added nine points, Porcher had eight and Celina Rosa (Plantation, Fla.) played lock-down defense on UCAP standout Becca Pope while adding four points.

The Lady Knights return to action tonight at 6:30pm when they host the Cougars of Manchester Community College in their final regular season game. Thursday night will be sophomore night for Masse, the team’s lone sophomore, who will be playing her final home game. In addition, the Lady Knights will be decked-out in pink in honor of “Play 4 Kay Night.” They will be collecting donations for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which has raised $1.7 million and is committed to finding an answer in the fight against women’s cancers.

Knights baseball splits doubleheader

The CCRI baseball team kicked off the 2012 season with a road trip to Greensboro, N.C., for a doubleheader against Division I powerhouse Guilford Technical Community College. The Knights dropped the first game 5-1 but rallied to win 9-4 in game two.

In the first game, CCRI took the field after a 15-hour bus ride and just three hours of sleep at the hotel. The Knights battled hard to keep the game close but couldn’t find much offense as they stranded four runners in scoring position.

CCRI then woke up its offense in game two, exploding for 16 hits and nine runs in the seven-inning contest. The Knights received strong pitching efforts from Brendan Cabral (Scituate) and Connor Gleason (North Stonington, Conn.). Cabral went four solid innings and helped his cause with two hits while Gleason pitched three strong innings of relief to pick up his first collegiate victory.

The offense was led by Marc Dorsi (West Haven, Conn.) and Jamale Horn (Hoover, Ala.), who had three hits and three RBI each. Tom Gavitt (Stonington, Conn.) added three hits and two RBI, while freshmen Dylan Gracia (Middletown) and Chris Girard (Stonington, Conn.) had two hits apiece in their first collegiate action.